Scrabble Bags

On any given Thursday night, in a dark and smoky bar tucked beneath the Morrison Bridge, a battle of wit and wisdom is being played out. In this industrial part of the city, where wharehouses and homeless encampments fit in more than the aforementioned bar, a phenemenon begins...already starting to sweep the nation.

Le Merde, the adjoining bar to Le Bistro Montage restaurant, is the quintessential underground watering hole. This may seem counterintuitive to the fact that it sits next to a very popular restaurant and is full on most nights. However, because of its industrial setting, as well as dark and smoky interior, it gives off a sort of rebelious, intellectual air.

Every Thursday night at nine, Le Merde hosts a trivia in which multiple teams battle it out for pub-intellect supremecy. Anybody can play, so long as they are in groups of five or less, and have a team name. Shannon, aka Shanrock, is the hostess and provides the questions and structured format. The rounds are broken up by category, as well as the way the questions are asked and supposed to be answered. For example, one round requires you to listen to one clue at a time and, based on the number of clues it takes for you to figure out the answer, you'll receive a variant amount of points. There is also a music recognition round, and a physical challenge, too.

A group of friends and I have been going to Le Merde for a couple years now, and, until recently, have been picking a new team name every time. However, as the core group of people going narrowed down some, and our attempt to win became more serious, we decided it was time to name ourselves. So one night, in the company of Bobby, Ian, Stephanie and Olde, we unveiled the new name: The Scrabble Bags.

For the simple-minded, this could refer to an assortment of lettered tiles in a felt bag. Or, if you are familiar with Old's dad's lingo, or just plain brilliant, you'd know it is more of a reference to the male anatomy. Whatever the case, we thought the name was perfect. It now represents an approximate grouping of Chrissie, Casey, Ian, Bobby, Olde, and I. There are stragglers, of course (Stephanie, Sydney, and Maggie), but the core remains farley intact (with Bobby, Olde and I the most committed). This commitment has begun to catch on, and has now become a movement (in many ways, a force to be reckoned with). Case in point: on a recent trip to Denver, my sister (being granted honorary status as a Scrabble Bagger) and I went to a pub trivia with a friend of hers. Intent on representing the Scrabble Bags in another state, and unwilling to take on another name, we forced my sister's friend to change their team name to incorporate "Scrabble Bag" in it. Unfortunately, the outsiders tainted the force, and we fared poorly. However, the word is now out and spreading across the nation. The Scrabble Bags have arrived...and there will be no avoiding us.

Peep us at Le Merde on any Thursday night that we can get our shit together and make it out. At worst, you can get a beer and some bomb mac and cheese from Montage. Check 'em out at 301 SE Morrison St.